Even still standing full Starbound output this year?

first time seeing a Teal name on here gotta learn something new everyday right or you'll go dunce :S

 

It seems to be that some have come to their own conclusion, based on what they've seen in Daily Updates and such, that Beta will not be ready within 2013. I highly doubt that this is the case, and here are my reasons to why:

1. The Daily Updates are showing a constant line of progress, even if it is across multiple areas of the game. For some reason, some people think that just because they're bouncing back and forth from projects that SB will not get finished, but the fact is any progress IS progress. I've not taken much coding yet, but it's a lot of math and algorithms. Sometimes, they have a feature they need to add, but have no freaking idea how to make it work, or how to make it work efficiently. So they leave it, and go on to something else until a solution comes to mind, thus it seems like they're dropping and picking up projects all willy-nilly, when really, it's rather organized.
2. They said that if one was to pre-purchase a key, they'd get Beta in 2013. Backing out of a deal containing 1.7 million dollars is a very risky business indeed, and they know this. When the end of 2013 comes, even IF their current build is highly unstable, they will most likely release it. I have no problem waiting another year, but there are some out there who would probably ask for their money back, maybe even some trying to sue if they missed that Beta deadline, as sad as it is. (Then again, the pre-order page states that the "ESTIMATED RELEASE" is 2013. So there never really was a promise of a 2013 Beta to begin with.)
3. They don't earn from holding the release back. Nothing. A Beta release would be the biggest PR boost they could get. Youtube videos, reviews, LPs. It would generate a ton of publicity, which in turn means more pre-orders, which means more money. Even if Tiy & Co. are the amazingly considerate people they are, and are not willing to release an unfinished, unpolished product, they still need money.
4. Bug Testing Deluxe. Releasing the Beta would immediately flood all wiki areas and forum categories dedicated to bugs. Instead of having 2-3 DEVs playing the game every now and then to see if they come across something, they'd have many thousands playing, all the time, in every possible way. This sounds horrible, "Oh God, there are 26 978 bugs found so far, and it's only been a week!", but remember, it's Beta. Bugs are bound to be there or else it would be Beta. By releasing a Beta, they'd get such a huge bug report feedback, which in turn would most certainly help get the full game here faster. Less time testing, more time patching. A win/win situation.

These are just a few reasons, but all in all, not releasing Beta isn't earning them anything. So everyone, chill out. Calm down. It's not you who'd earn from a Beta, it's the DEVs, and with that in mind, a 2013 Beta release doesn't seem so gloomy now does it?

 

Juice Box recalls that Starbound will never be fully finished as there will be weekly updates.

 

Wait, I am confused. When you say them, are you distancing yourself from the rabid people among the community, or placing more unwarranted blame back on the devs?

 

I care far more about a successful polished game than getting it a few months sooner. The devs are smart and know that first impressions matter.

Take as much time as needed.

 

I want to interject something: feature creep is when you add more features that are not always required. Features that add to the program are also feature creep.

And the "Sunday do whatevers" are feature creep. I'll only add feature creep may not be feature bloat, which is a bad thing.

Also: No, the devs had said they're going to release in 2013, in whatever state it's in.

Sooo.

 

I agree that the devs have said it would come out in 2013, but things changed, they may not be planning on that anymore. Don't make them eat their words for being nice and giving us an estimated time of release. I do agree that it does seem pretty set in stone by that statement, but once the beta comes out, starbound is technically out, so maybe that's what it means. And I believe they are still holding on hard to the beta in 2013 goal.

 

Well, let me put it this way. When you take money, you have to be reaally careful. It IS only late August so I'm not precisely worried yet. (I have to admit I wasn't expecting a release until October at the earliest.)

 

I don't know, but I've definitely stopped caring as much.

I only come here to check the daily updates once or twice a week now, and once GTA V releases and college is in full swing again, I feel like I'll just forget about Starbound entirely, until randomly remembering about it late November and (maybe) seeing that the game is out. By then, it won't be the only game on my list anymore, and I have no clue when I'll have time to play it what with studying/backlog/etc. Ironically, I probably won't have time to play Starbound until spring 2014 no matter when it releases.

I already paid for the game though, so they're not losing a customer.

 

Not really, the money isn't borrowed it was a transaction. I am sure the fine print states the date is up to change. Only bad thing they can do is release beta and give it to no one who pre ordered, and on game release not give it people who paid for it. Only people that can sue on a games date is the publisher and they are the publisher. In conclusion they don't have to be careful about the date.

 

1) Being a transaction places slightly more burden on Chucklefish than them borrowing money
2) I'd be far more worried about people wanting refunds than suing.
3) Also: No. They do. If you promise a date you need to match it or have a very good reason why not. Chucklefish is not EA, and they cannot just do what they want.

 

To Be Fair: The purchasing site merely says "beta this year." And that's all I've been expecting, personally.

 

Yea some people have been rabid about this for awhile now. But whats a month or two yet if it stops you having to remake your character avery 5 seconds cause of world breaking bugs. If during christmas break there is still no beta then I'll start to worry. I think Some people seem to have the Idea that by preordering they got a vote or shares in the company or something.

As to feature creep i won't worry about it until i hear of completely unheard of races or odd mechanics being added. I think what is gonna make Starbound great in the end is the fact that they let the devs have their little sunday extras and the thousands of craftables and items and armours. The game by it's very nature is feature creep. If they released as soon as some people expect we would be done playthrough in 4 hours and then wait while we got a new item every week. This way we'll still get stuff after release but we maybe won't have worn the game out the first weekend.

 

Yeah, and people can sue for anything really but it does not mean it would hold up in court.

 

That isn't something I'd be confident on. In any case, it's also something I wouldn't be TOO worried about.

 

No, feature creep relates to redundant and useless features being packed in to an already finished product. The idea that feature creep also applies to features in general, not to mention in an unfinished product, is a gross misuse of the term. Starbound falls under Feature Driven Development, and while feature creep can be a result of that, it's far from that stage.

On one hand we have people screaming about feature creep, on the other you have people complaining that Beta won't have certain features. If it wasn't for the majority of the community being on the third group who are happy to wait I would be slightly worried at what path the game could take.
(When I say happy to wait, I mean with baited breath and tested patience)

 

We're probably going to have to agree to disagree, because I define feature creep as nice-to-have but not needed features. I define feature bloat as what you define feature creep as.

 

and therein lies the problem.

 

Oh I get where you are coming from and the concerns it invokes, but yes, I think we might have different views on what we want from the game.

In this current industry, nothing is new or unique, just existing ideas packaged in such a way that it becomes unique in it's own right. The survival genre grown on the staples of mining, crafting, building and combat are premises that are being done to death at the moment to varying result.
Games that are able to make a name for themselves have learnt that you cannot define the game by these overdone basics, but make them part of a larger more detailed theme with other features.

These features are the X factor that will flesh out the game and give people the choice to do many different things rather than going through the motions and end up relying on an update-by-update survival

 

With the labels they have on the preorder page, they're currently legally obligated to release the beta by December 31, 2013 at 11:59 PM, lest they suddenly face thousands of pieces of evidence that they have backed out on their promise to paying customers.

Punitive damages and tort reform and all that.

So, I guess it's safe to say that your gift won't be opened until Xmas.